DEJECTED Darlington defender Craig Liddle admitted Saturday's defeat at home to Cambridge served a harsh reminder that there is still plenty to play for this season, writes LEE HALL.

Quakers remain nine points clear of safety with nine games to go.

However, Liddle has reminded his teammates that any more horror shows, like the one witnessed at the weekend, and they can easily find themselves back in the relegation mire.

"We battled back in the end but we give ourselves too much to do," said Liddle.

"They only had four shots at goal and they scored from them because of silly mistakes.

"We can't afford to do that and hopefully we can bounce back next week at Doncaster."

And having set his sights on the trip to promotion-chasing Doncaster, Liddle remains upbeat despite Saturday's setback.

"If we'd been told nine games ago that we would have had this many points on the board we would have been happy so it's not all doom and gloom," said Liddle.

"It's still disappointing to lose today because if we'd won that would have given us a 12-point gap which I think would see us safe.

"It was a shock to the system and it could be the kind of wake up call some of our younger lads needed.

"We've still got work to do and hopefully over the next couple of weeks we'll do it."

The former Middlesbrough defender admitted complacency may have crept in at the Reynolds Arena against a struggling Cambridge side.

"I think we were slack from the off really," said Liddle.

"We managed to go in front but they fought back so fair play to them."

Liddle also offered some words of comfort for goalkeeper Michael Price, who was at fault for two of Cambridge's goals.

"You can't knock Pricey because he's had an excellent few months for us," said Liddle.

"He's a young lad and made a couple of mistakes but these things sometimes happen in football.

"I'm sure Pricey will be determined to bounce back next week.